THE STRATEGIC GOAL: to make albums, create merchandise, and set up distribution and sales channels

REFERENCE PAGE: IndieGuide.com/Sales

Table of Contents:

Section: Preparing Your Albums For Creation, Distribution, And Sales

Album ChecklistHow To Prepare Artwork For An AlbumHow To Clear The Legal Rights For Your AlbumsHow To Get Images That Are Precleared And Royalty-FreeTop Things To Add To Your Liner Notes And Album ArtWhat Musicians Should Know About Soundscan And Album SalesWhat Musicians Should Know About All-In-One Inclusive Music Sales Solutions

Section: Creating Physical Albums

The Three Types Of CDs Available For Manufacture: Music CDs, Data CDs, And Hybrid CDsHow To Decide How Many CDs To MakeThe Five Methods Musicians Can Use To Create CDsHow To Create CDs With Your Home ComputerHow To Create And Sell Real CDs Or DVDs For $0 And No Inventory And Make Money On Every Sale (Print On Demand)How To Make A CD Or DVD Print Run Using A CD Printing HouseWhat Every Musician Should Know About CD CasesHow To Register Your CD So When People Rip The Music, The Song Names Come Up Automatically And The Ripped MP3 Files Have The Correct Track And Artist InfoHow To Make Music Download CardsHow To Create And Sell Your Music On USB-Flash-Drive Albums

Section: Selling Your Physical Albums

How To Sell Your CDs/DVDs On ConsignmentHow To Get Your Physical Albums And DVDs Distributed In Stores Around The WorldHow To Sell Your Physical CDs/DVDs OnlineHow To Use Online Stores Effectively

Section: Digital Distribution And Sales

How To Sell Your Music On Itunes, Amazon, And The Rest Of The Digital Distribution OutletsHow To Sell Digital Music Downloads DirectlyHow To Make Ringtones Out Of Your Music And Sell ThemHow To Sell At Youtube

Section: Merchandise Creation, Distribution, And Sales

What Musicians Should Know About On-Demand Merchandise Sales SolutionsHow To Sell T-Shirts For $0 With No InventoryHow To Make T-Shirts (Silkscreen Shirts, Photo-Print-Style Shirts)How To Make PostersHow To Make StickersHow And Why To Make Books And E-BooksHow To Make Branded Merchandise Out Of Anything For $0 With No Inventory And Make A Profit On Every SaleHow To Sell Your Merchandise OnlineHow To Handle Online Ticket SalesHow To Make Money Selling Other People’s Merchandise Or Promoting Their Brand

From this section: "When we made our first CD, we rooted through the liner notes of all the discs in our collections for ideas and eventually made a big checklist that we are sharing here. "

What Musicians Should Know About Soundscan And Album Sales

From this section: "the Billboard Hot 100 charts are all based on SoundScan numbers."

What Musicians Should Know About All-In-One Inclusive Music Sales Solutions

From this section: "Although it seems that handling sales of ringtones, getting on iTunes, and selling physical CDs online are different problems, some distributors handle all of these services for you in a single place."

From this section: "Although flash drives cost more than CDs and download cards, you are giving a better value to the fan, and the flash drive itself is an item that your fans can use after they’ve transferred the files."

From this section: "YouTube, with its partner program, allows musicians not only to share in the ad revenue for any videos in the channel but also to put up links and set up a store to feature merchandise."

From this section: "Whether you want to sell T-shirts, posters, stickers, or other merchandise like mugs, watches, and so on, there are services that will handle all of these merchandise options for you, often for free."

From this section: "Of course, to sell a lot of T-shirts, you should have cool designs that people will want to buy. The easiest way to find out what people want is to use print-on-demand sites first—which cost nothing—and then invest in an inventory when you find out what works."

From this section: "Stickers are more effective than they have ever been in the past because you can put your Web site address and even QR codes on them that easily bring up your information in mobile devices. This can lead a fan to whatever you have to offer."

How To Make Branded Merchandise Out Of Anything For $0 With No Inventory And Make A Profit On Every Sale

From this section: "You can literally slap a brand on everything you can imagine and put it up for sale: clocks, license plate holders, iPad cases, Christmas ornaments, and even G-strings (before you ask, yes, we’ve made some with our logo on them)."